Absentee ballot requests in Iowa exceed total early vote in 2008

[RandySF]

Iowans have requested a record number of early ballots for the general election with more than a week left to vote by mail or early in person. As of October 24, 565,986 Iowans had requested absentee ballots--more than the number of Iowans who cast early votes in the 2008 general election (545,739).

Iowa Democrats have requested about 75,000 more absentee ballots than Republicans and lead in ballot requests in three of the four Congressional districts. On October 23, Republicans finally overtook Democrats in absentee ballot requests in IA-04, where the GOP's voter registration advantage is more than 50,000.

After the jump I've posted early voting numbers from the last three presidential elections in Iowa, along with the latest tables showing absentee ballots requested by voters and returned to county auditors. I'm updating the absentee ballot totals every weekday here, using data posted on the Iowa Secretary of State's website.

Adrian Gray, a veteran of the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign, has been commenting on early voting trends in various states on twitter. I disagree with some of his Iowa observations and explain why below.



http://www.bleedingheartland.com/diary/5804/absentee-ballot-requests-in-iowa-exceed-total-early-vote-in-2008

[hrmjustin]

1. I see 400,000 have handed them in already.